Architecture Board

<h2>Architecture Board</h2>

<p>The Architecture Board has two main functions:</p>

<ul>

<li> To approve architectural standards, road maps and guidelines and to ensure that these have been developed with the strategic interests of the business uppermost in priority</li>

<li>To review individual project proposals and designs to ensure that they are compliant with the architectural standards set by the board, and to approve budget for those projects only if the compliance criteria set by the board are met. </li>

</ul>

<p>The potential members of the Architecture Board include (but are not restricted to):
At least one senior business manager;</p>

<ul>

<li>The head of IT services </li>

<li>The head of IT operations </li>

<li>The head of IT systems development</li>

<li>The chief IT architect (if such a position exists)</li>

<li>The most senior member of the information security expert team</li>

<li>The head of internal audit</li>

<li>A senior representative of the fi nance team who has authority to control budget sign-off.</li>

</ul>

<h2>Design Authority</h2>

<p>The Design Authority role is usually vested in a single person, such as the chief IT architect or the project director. <em>This person takes ultimate responsibility for ensuring the integrity of the overall design and of the design process through which it has been produced. Since, for any given project, the design must be compliant with the architectural standards, it is the Design Authority who is accountable directly to the Architecture Board for compliance.</em> Thus the Design Authority is an important player in the overall architecture governance process. This person will attend Architecture Board meetings to present items relevant to the project, but otherwise may or may not be a permanent member of the board.</p>